France lose Ribéry and Grenier for World Cup

France will be without midfielders Franck Ribéry and Clément Grenier for their FIFA World Cup campaign in Brazil, with coach Didier Deschamps hoping to bring in Rémy Cabella and Morgan Schneiderlin to fill the gaps in his squad.

FC Bayern München winger Ribéry, capped 81 times, has failed to shake off a back problem. "We saw positive signs – he came back, we started working more intensively, but this morning, during the last training session, he had to stop because he could feel a strong pain," Deschamps said of the 31-year-old.

"We proceeded to medical exams which confirmed the situation had got worse. We have to accept that he won't be able to train for several weeks, let alone play."

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Olympique Lyonnais man Grenier, who has five caps, sustained a groin injury in training on Thursday. "He has a hernia," Deschamps noted. "On Wednesday he trained normally, but on Thursday, during a dribbling and shooting exercise, he felt a very strong pain in his groin and stopped immediately. He had to undergo a scan which, unfortunately, showed a strain to his right adductor. He won't be able to train or play for several weeks."

France are making a request to FIFA to replace both players in their squad, with Montpellier Hérault SC's Cabella – who made his international debut in the 4-0 win against Norway on 27 May – and uncapped Southampton FC man Schneiderlin the proposed replacements.

Les Bleus had already suffered one injury setback in the run-up to the finals, goalkeeper Steve Mandanda being forced to leave the squad with a neck problem.

France begin their Group E campaign against Honduras on 15 June with games against Switzerland and Ecuador to follow.